Qld floods class action 'could set record'

Flood victims in Brisbane and Ipswich are being urged to join what litigants describe as potentially the largest class action in Australian history.

Litigation funder IMF Australia and law firm Maurice Blackburn have released maps showing parts of the cities they argue should have been spared inundation in January 2011.

Modelling by US hydrologists says riverside locations in Brisbane's city centre, including the Eagle Street Pier, the inner-city areas of New Farm, Auchenflower and West End, along with central Ipswich, would not have flooded if the Wivenhoe Dam had been operated properly.

It is alleged that dam operator Seqwater had failed to operate the dam competently, leading to excess water being released on January 8 and 9, 2011 as Brisbane braced for the biggest floods since 1974.

IMF Australia executive director John Walker said their "potentially" billion-dollar class action could set a new Australian record, arguing the flooding "didn't need to occur".

"What we have here is a dam that sits above millions of people and what we have is an extreme hazard," he told reporters on Monday.

Maurice Blackburn Class Actions principal Damian Scattini said Seqwater held too much water in Wivenhoe Dam for too long, before "they panicked and released too much at once".

Mr Scattini said that despite floods occurring in December 2010 and early January 2011, Seqwater closed its flood centre until January 6.

"They closed the gates and presumably went home," he said, adding their behaviour was "negligent".

Auchenflower resident and engineering consultant Liam Stitt, 50, who had $80,000 worth of goods destroyed by the floods, is joining in the class action in the hope of justice for those who were uninsured.

Mr Stitt was insured for home and contents damage but his business equipment was not covered.

"I had a view from day one they mismanaged the dam," he told AAP.

But Seqwater chief executive Terri Benson said the engineers had been faithful to the operating manual as they faced three flood events over a five-week period in December 2010 and January 2011.

"Seqwater remains confident that Wivenhoe Dam was managed and performed as it was designed," Ms Benson said in a statement.

Ipswich councillor Paul Tully says only 15 homes and four businesses at Goodna would have been destroyed if Wivenhoe dam had been managed differently, instead of the 600 that were destroyed.

"Goodna would have been back to normal within 24 hours but now we are still facing years of heartbreak with destroyed homes, marriages and families," Mr Tully said in a statement.

Ipswich Mayor Paul Pisasale agreed too much water was released, but is declining to join the class action.

"This legal battle will drag on for the next five to 10 years and the only people who are going to win this are the lawyers," he told AAP.

Queensland Premier Campbell Newman and his successor as Brisbane Lord Mayor Graham Quirk declined to comment on the specifics of the potential class action.

The litigants hope to make a decision on whether to proceed by April, and see a possible court case running for up to four years.

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